Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Interview with Janet Mullany

Earlier this month I read and loved loved Janet Mullany's hilarious and sexy Regency Mr Bishop and the Actress. I'm excited to share my interview with Ms. Mullany about her novel and her writing. Read on and don't forget to enter to win a copy of Mr Bishop and the Actress!

What was the plot of your very first piece of fiction?

I think it was a plagiarized version of Black Beauty (Anna Sewell) but I got bored and couldn't figure out what was going to happen next. Astonishingly, that's how I still write (other than first person horse narratives and, I hope, the plagiarizing).

Was Mr Bishop and the Actress the original title of your book?

Yes. The title came first before I even knew what the book was about. It's a variant on the English joke where you add "as the actress said to the bishop" to any innocuous statement to make it sound filthy. It's the equivalent of adding "in bed" to a fortune cookie motto. (Go on. Try it, as the actress said to the bishop...)

As you were writing Mr Bishop and the Actress, was there a particular scene or character that surprised you?

Without adding spoilers ... Harry's mother's origins.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?

I garden, I volunteer as a docent at a local historical house, read, wrangle a cat. I'm really pretty boring.

Read any good books recently?

Yes! Started Early, Took the Dog by Kate Atkinson, and on the flimsiest of excuses, I started reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen again.

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My thanks to Ms. Mullany for her time.

GIVEAWAY! I so loved this book I'm buying a copy to send to one lucky reader! Leave a comment with an email address to be entered. Open to US/international readers (if Book Depository ships to you). Closes 7/8. For another entry, comment on my review!

Unabridged Chick: Enthusiastic Book Reviews and other very personal opinions.

I'm married to a former seminarian, so pretty much all the Christian books belong to her. Definitely all the Bibles. I'm the more pagan one although ...more I'm Audra, a 30-something married lesbian (and new mom!) with a thing for literary fiction and historical novels. But I'm also having a pretty torrid affair with gritty noir and some paranormal /supernatural fiction. I love interesting heroines, gorgeous prose, place as character, and the occasional werewolf.